A hood may be any exterior movable body panel on a vehicle that is used to cover an engine, motor, storage, or battery compartment. The hood may be located in a front portion of a vehicle and may be pivotally attached to the vehicle. A hood latch system may be provided with a primary latch to maintain the hood in a closed position on the vehicle. Typically, a single hood latch is located at the center leading edge of the hood, although other systems and configurations have been used. A hood release handle may be located within the interior of the vehicle operatively connected to release the primary latch and pop the hood.
A vehicle having a front opening hood may obstruct a driver's forward view when opened. The hood latch system may be provided with a secondary latch. The secondary latch may act as a safety latch in the event the primary latch is released while the vehicle is moving. A hood having the primary latch released typically raises the hood a predetermined amount and is maintained in an intermediate closed position by the secondary latch. A secondary release lever may be located on the hood latch assembly itself to release the secondary latch.
Servicing components within the compartment covered by the hood may be challenging in vehicles with a high ride height, such as trucks, sport utility vehicles, or utility vehicles. As a result of the high ride height, the current vehicle architecture, and component layout, accessibility to components such as the battery, dip stick, washer fluid, etc. may be inhibited while a 50th percentile male (69 inches in height) or a 5th percentile female (59.1 inches in height) is standing on the ground.